CHARLOTTE – Backup point guard C.J. Watson missed only his second game of the season on Wednesday, sitting out against the Charlotte Bobcats with a sprained right elbow injury.

Almost an hour before the scheduled tipoff inside the Time Warner Cable Arena visitors' locker room, Watson and team athletic trainer Carl Eaton approached head coach Frank Vogel. Eaton explained the discomfort Watson had experienced with his shooting elbow during his pregame warm ups. Later, Watson told The Star that he originally banged his elbow during a play against the Utah Jazz on Sunday, when he was starting in place of injured George Hill.

Watson, who contributed 20 points, seven assists and three steals during his two-game starting stretch, had only missed one previous game. On Nov. 22, Watson did not play in Boston due to an upper respiratory infection.

Coincidentally, Watson played his best game of the season the last time the Pacers played in Pacers. Back on Nov. 27, Watson hit a career best six 3-pointers en route to 18 points.

TOO MUCH JEFFERSON

When the Charlotte Bobcats make their transition back to the Hornets banner next season, they will have a bankable player to lead the franchise into the future.

Charlotte All-Star Al Jefferson is only one of four players in the NBA to average at least 25 points on 50-percent shooting, according to Fox Sports Indiana research. Also on Monday night, Jefferson contributed 38 points on 75-percent accuracy and 19 rebounds and became only the third player in 29 years to hit those marks in a single game, according to STATS, LLC.

And on a night when Sports Illustrated was in town to work on a feature about him, Jeffersonconfounded the Pacers' bigs with his array of post-ups for 18 points through the first half.

"You spend your whole life as a coach saying, 'Hey, go up and contest shots! Leave your feet. Get off your feet and contest shots,'" Vogel said, when referencing Jefferson's artful pump-fake move. "Well, now we're telling you not to do it. Now, we're telling you don't leave your feet. That's a difficult instinct to grasp in a day… to try to mentally prepare for playing someone. It's just human instincts. Basketball instincts."